The HalfBlood Prince Revealed
by SilverShiver
Summary: An insight into Snape's character during his teenage years.


**Title: The Half-Blood Prince Revealed**

**Author: SilverShiver**

**Rating: K+ (My first one!)**

**Summary: A oneshot based off of my theory on HBP. Focus is Snape and Lily.**

**Warnings: Only that it has spoilers for Half-Blood Prince, but if you couldn't figure that out… well… nevermind.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I never have. I never will. I don't own this one even more though, because in one section, almost all dialogue is quotes from all six books, a hefty challenge to collect, I must say.**

* * *

"I refuse to write that spell in, Snape!"

"Evans," growled Severus, "whose book is this?"

"Ours," she answered defiantly, and smirked when he stared loathingly at her. "Just because it has _your_ name in it, it doesn't mean that it is only yours. I've had just as big of a part as you," she explained. "As a matter of fact, it isn't really your name at all. It's your mothers. And it's my handwriting on all the pages, so it's quite possibly more mine that yours even!"

"It's mine, Evans. Those are my spells in there!"

"Oh, Snape, they are ours. Admit it. We both worked on them. But I'll admit, _that one_," she said with a grimace. "That's yours."

"Will you just write it in?"

Lily appeared to ponder the matter for a moment. Then: "No, I won't. It's a horrible spell, Snape. If you want it in, _you_ write it." She edged the open book to him. Severus eyed the blank margin of the sixth year potions book. He would have freely written the spell in, but his handwriting would mar the perfection the text held. He pushed the book back to Lily.

"No," he said simply, standing up to leave. "I can't write in that book. You have to do it."

"Well I won't!" she shouted at him as he left the room. Lily sighed as she picked up their—well; it was _technically_ his—book and followed him out.

Lily Evans and Severus Snape had a fragile relationship that no one else knew of. They only referred to each other by surnames in public _and_ in private, and they only tolerated each other long enough to work on their extended edition of the Advanced Potions Book they were sharing for the term. As a Gryffindor and a Slytherin they were bound to despise each other.

Throughout the year the two of them had created a guide to potion making that would surpass any text-book. Along the way, Severus—and sometimes Lily—would create a spell that would also be written in a margin in Lily's feminine writing. When it came to magic, the pair normally agreed with each other, but this time Lily thought that Severus' spell was too… Slytherin… to be written in.

_Sectumsempra_. It was a spell that could wind up killing someone, and she didn't want it in writing. She didn't want proof that it even existed. How such a horrible spell had entered Severus Snape's mind she didn't want to know. He had created many spells that lay in the book, but none of them evil.

_Muffliato_ was an extremely useful spell when you wanted to have a private conversation, although Lily preferred to not use it as she found it to be rude. Then there were the spells that they had created as jokes. The growing toenail jinx and the glued-tongue jinx obviously produced quite amusing results. One of her spells had been quite popular.

_Levicorpus_ was one spell she wished she hadn't come up with. Last year, James Potter had used the spell _she_ had created to plague Severus relentlessly. And then once, in retaliation, Severus had used _his_ spell. The spell he now wanted her to write in. _Sectumsempra_.

Lily searched the hall for Severus, but he was nowhere to be found so she retired to the Gryffindor Common Room for the night. When she entered she saw James Potter and Sirius Black playing a hand of Exploding Snap. Peter Pettigrew sat on an armchair observing James and Sirius' game, and Remus Lupin had just looked up from his Ancient Runes book as she had entered.

She gave Remus a small smile and he nodded in greeting. James, who had just won the game, looked behind him to see who Remus had nodded to. Upon seeing Lily he dropped his winnings—three Sickles and two Knuts—which Sirius snatched from the table amidst James distraction, and spun around to meet her.

"Evans," he smiled gaily at her.

"Potter," she sighed, rolling her eyes; she knew what was coming.

"What would you say to a—"

"No," Lily interrupted.

"But I didn't finish!"

"You didn't have to. You asked what I would say. No matter what words were going to leave your mouth, the answer is no."

"But Evans," James protested as she left up the girls staircase.

"Goodnight, Remus," she called over her shoulder.

After she had disappeared up the spiral staircase, James turned to Remus, fuming.

"Remus?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why are _you_ Remus, while I remain Potter?"

Remus's eyes gave a small twinkle of laughter. "Because, James, you're named James _Potter_, not _Remus_ Lupin," he explained sarcastically.

James made to lunge at his friend, but luckily Sirius stepped in the way.

"Prongs!" he laughed as James struggled out of his grip. "You know he is only friends with Evans. Don't go hurting him for it!"

James gave a grumpy sigh as he straightened his robes moodily. He slouched down into a couch and continued to complain.

"Why won't she just give me a chance?" he asked no one in particular. When no one answered him he looked at Remus. "Well, Moony? Any ideas?"

Remus looked back at his book with a flushed face. He shrugged his shoulders slightly, much to James's annoyance. James stood up from his seat and stormed up the stairs to the sixth year boy's dormitory. Remus continued to stare into his book, avoiding the questioning glances of Peter and Sirius.

* * *

"He's honestly not that bad of a guy," Remus tried to explain to Lily.

"He's egotistical, self-centred, and a prat!"

"But he's head over heels for you."

Lily scoffed as she concentrated on getting her potion to turn the described baby blue.

"All right, maybe he doesn't express himself correctly all the time, but he's trying. I know both of you well enough; you'd be a great pair."

"Remus," Lily scolded as she turned from her _sky_ blue potion. "I'm losing my concentration with you yapping on about James. Can we talk—about something else—_after_ class perhaps?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders and turned away from her. Guilt caused her to call him back.

"Remus!" When he turned around she playfully blew him a kiss and winked at him. "I'm sorry," she apologized flirtatiously with a slight pout. Remus's worn cheeks flushed pink and he forgave her quietly. Then, as he turned to go back to Peter who was watching their potion, he smiled at Lily.

"What?" she questioned.

"You called him James," he pointed out, happy at even the slightest bit of progress between the two, before leaving Lily with her own blush.

"Will you stop chatting about and dice the pomegranate seeds, Evans?" Severus barked from his seat next to her.

She faced him testily. "Why do you suppose it is three shades darker than it should be?" she asked.

"That would be because _you_ were not paying attention when I advised adding an extra pinch of powdered moonstone."

"Oh," she sighed. She reached for the moonstone on their shared desk, but stopped when he gently—but firmly—pulled her wrist back.

"If you do it now you could blow us all to pieces," he explained. He let go of her wrist but avoided her eyes.

"I see. Sorry," she apologized, not noticing his hiding face. "I'm just so preoccupied! Remus was telling me how—"

"I seriously doubt this is going to surprise you," interrupted Severus, "but I care nothing for your love life. Particularly if it involves Potter of all people."

Lily huffed, folded her arms, and sat back in her sear. "I'm taking a break," she announced. "You finish the potion, Snape."

"Evans, I did the last one. Add the seeds, and then try two counter clockwise stirs before continuing. That should set it right."

He watched as Lily did so, and they both grinned in satisfaction as it worked. To Lily's luck, the Potions Professor was passing by at that moment. He eyed their perfect potion and beamed down at the two students.

"Lily!" he praised. "Severus. Great job. Please, continue on." He gave them a short nod of utmost approval as he continued down the row of students.

Lily and Severus exchanged a wry grin of amusement. Both of them were members of the _Slug Club_, and they both agreed it was rubbish. Slughorn had been their Potions teacher since they had started at Hogwarts, and it was common knowledge that he picked favourites. Unfortunately, most of his favourite students wished that they weren't.

Lily looked at Severus for a moment before he caught her. "What?" he asked, his annoyed voice taking over.

"How are you so good at Potions?" she asked. "How do you always know what to do, and when to do it?"

Severus blinked; the question had caught him off-guard. "Uh—I guess it kind of comes naturally. That and I study Potions constantly. I suppose it's the same was you are with Charms."

Lily smiled at him. "Was that a compliment?" she asked.

Before Severus could answer, the bell rang and Slughorn instructed them to leave a vial of their potion for testing. By the time Lily had turned in the sample and had written down their homework, Severus had slipped out of the classroom. She didn't bother looking for him. Instead, she left, following the four Gryffindor boys. As she followed silently behind them she caught bits of their conversation quite unintentionally.

"Try being a tad bit _nicer_ James," Remus whispered.

"It won't make a difference…" James complained. Then he muttered something that she didn't catch—not that she was really listening, of course.

"Who?" Sirius asked him in a disbelieving tone.

James again murmured something inaudible to Lily.

"No." Remus said this in a strangely firm tone. "That's not true."

"Really, Prongs," Sirius said. "What gave you _that_ idea?"

"You saw them cosy-ing up in Potions!" James defended himself.

"But what you're suggesting… That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Peter asked quietly. "I mean, he _hates_ muggleborns. You know what he calls her!"

Remus turned to look at Peter, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red hair. Lily's heart froze as she saw him glance sideways at her. Then, he turned back to face the Fat Lady as the portrait slid open. She stayed outside as they climbed in so that she could enter some time after them. Unfortunately, the Fat Lady was waiting impatiently for her to enter.

"Are you going in or not?" she screeched just as Peter had crossed into the common room. All four boys turned to look at Lilt. By the looks on their faces she knew they had in fact been talking about her on the walk up. Lily stepped into the silent entrance of the common room and marched past all four boys with her head held high.

"Do you think she heard us?" Peter whispered quite loudly before she was out of earshot. Lily spun around in time to see three separate hands slap him on the back, head and shoulder.

"Yes," she answered. "I do think she heard you. And I think she would appreciate it if you would mind your own business from now on."

She folded her arms and waited for a response. To her surprise James stepped forward and ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"Could I talk to you, Ev—um, Lily?" he asked politely. Lily was taken aback but nodded and followed him up to his empty room.

When they had sat down opposite each other on separate beds, James began to talk. "First, I'm sorry," he said. "You're right. I shouldn't have been assuming things about you."

"Thank you," she muttered. "You were wrong anyway. I'm nothing more than Snape's Potion partner. We just happened to have a civil conversation," she explained. "Not exactly 'cosy-ing up' as you put it—which, by the way, is not a real word."

James ran his had through his hair again but stopped when Lily pulled on his wrist. "Will you stop that?" she asked. "It doesn't make you look any 'cooler'."

"Sorry," he laughed. "Anyway, I also wanted to say that… well…" He was fighting the urge to mess up his hair again—a habit when he was nervous. Lily watched as he fiddled with his hands uncontrollably. She put her own hand over his to calm him down.

"What?" she asked.

"I really like you," he blurted out. "Remus kept telling me to tell you and get it over with, but I never did. Now I have and you're free to laugh at me or whatever." He looked away from her, expecting the worse.

"Oh Potter," she laughed. "I already knew that!"

"You did?" he asked, his confusion apparent.

"How long have you been asking me out for?" she asked him with a grin. "Normally, when that happens, it means one person likes the other."

"No Lily," he said. "What I mean is I _really_ like you. It's not a one or two date thing I want. I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to be your boyfriend. You know, steady."

Lily looked at him in shock. She had never expected James Potter to ever say he wanted to go steady with anyone; least of all her. Potter was known for going from girl to girl faster than the snitch he carried around with him.

"I –uh—I don't know what to say," she admitted. She took her hands from his, but he reached over and grabbed them back.

"Say yes this time. One date. We'll go from there. Please, Lily," he begged, his sapphire eyes shining.

"All right," she said suddenly, causing James to shout out in joy that could be heard all throughout Gryffindor Tower. Lily laughed and he looked at her curiously. "Every girl at Hogwarts will hate me by tomorrow morning," she confided with a grin.

* * *

"Snape?" Lily called into the old classroom they met in to work on the Half-Blood Prince's book.

"Over here," he answered from the back of the room. "You're late."

"Sorry. I was talking to James and I—"

"James?" Severus asked, confused. "Oh. _Potter_," he sneered.

"Well, anyway, I lost track of time and I'm going to have to leave early as well."

"Why?" he demanded, upset that his plans were being disrupted.

"Oh. James is taking me to Hogsmeade. It's a weekend, you know."

"What happened to calling him Potter and agreeing that he has a head to big for his body?" Severus asked, his lip curling maliciously. "Are you two going steady or something?" he asked half-jokingly.

Lily bit her lip. "Yes, I suppose we are," she admitted.

Whatever Severus had been expecting, this wasn't it. He stood up so suddenly that the desk he was at flipped over. "WHAT?" he roared.

Lily flinched and took a step away from the seething Slytherin. "What's the matter with you, Snape?" she asked angrily.

"IT'S POTTER, EVANS. THAT'S WHAT'S BLOODY WRONG!" he shouted.

"Didn't you say a week ago that you cared not about my love life? _Especially_ if it involved _Potter_?"

Severus glared heatedly at her for a moment before storming out of the classroom.

Lily stared after him. Why would he explode like that? She hadn't done anything against him, she couldn't understand why he would be so furious with her. Unless… no… She tried to push the thought from her mind. She was a muggleborn and Slytherin's never had any interest in girls like her.

Lily turned back to the overturned desk and righted it. Picking up the text from the floor, she sat down. She opened the book and found a blank margin for Severus' spell. Quickly, before she changed her mind, she wrote down the spell. Although she didn't know why, she felt a bit guilty for his blow-up—her fault or not. This was the least she could do.

_Sectumsempra!_

Then, after a moments thought, she added in a warning.

_Sectumsempra!_

_For Enemies_

* * *

Severus and Lily never fully mended their relationship. Soon after the fight, Lily and James became the talk of Hogwarts and everyone knew about them. They dated until graduation when James asked to marry her and she accepted without a second thought.

And the potions book? At the end of the sixth year, Lily left it in the dungeons with all the other ones that students donated to the classroom set and it never bothered her again. Snape never saw the spell she had written in. for he had bought himself a new book the next day.

* * *

It was raining heavily as Severus followed his former Headmaster into the Hogs Head Inn. Albus was to be interviewing a prospect for the empty position of Divination and since Severus was interested in a job at the school as well, he was hoping to pick up a few tricks on the inevitable interview. Albus walked up a set of stairs and Severus followed slightly behind. When the door the old man had gone in clicked shut, Severus approached it—listening to the various questions that the woman was being asked.

Teaching wasn't his ideal career, but the Dark Lord had requested, upon Severus's entry into the ranks of the Death Eaters, tat he keep an eye on Albus Dumbledore. Obtaining a position at the school would greatly increase his success at the takes assigned to him. Severus grabbed his forearm with a hiss of pain as his new mark began to burn into his arm. Trying to ignore the pain, Severus redirected his attention to the closed door before him.

The interview seemed to drone on forever, and Severus decided that he was picking up more tips on how _not_ to get the job; Albus didn't seem all that intrigued. Suddenly, though, the woman's voice changed drastically to a harsh tone. Severus leaned closer to hear every word.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…."_

"You there!" a voice interrupted. Severus sprung away from the door.

"What?" he demanded as the bartended from downstairs approached.

"What are you doing out here—your face pressed to the keyhole?"

"What's it to you?" Severus demanded.

"I'd like you to leave."

"I'm not sure I want to leave," he argued.

"Get OUT!" the man screamed. He slammed a foot to the ground and the door flew open.

"Look, I came up the wrong way; I'll go down to the bar."

The bartended grabbed Severus by the collar of his robes and easily dragged him out of both the bar and inn.

* * *

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—"

"James!" she cried.

"Go now, Lily!" he demanded. She ran out from the front of the house into the bedrooms. She grabbed her son from his crib and nervously tried to pacify him as he cried. She heard James stumbling out of the front room as a door burst open with a shattering force. Instinctively she grabbed Harry closer to her chest. She heard a maniac crackle of laughter.

"James!" she cried again as she saw her husband sprinting towards her. He locked the door behind him.

"Lily. You have to get out of here—"

"Not without you, James," she sobbed.

"Yes, without me. Take Harry and go. I'm going to hold him off. You need to—"

The door exploded inwards and Lily shrieked. She shielded her son from the scattered debris and backed up into the crib as a man entered the room. He pointed his wand at James and plainly said the killing curse before either James or Lily could resist.

"Avada Kedavra," he hissed and James soundlessly fell into a heap on the floor.

"No!" Lily cried.

Voldemort moved his wand to point directly at Lily and the baby. "Put down the child," he ordered. Lily refused.

"No… Please!"

"The child!" he said again.

"Not Harry!"

Voldemort sent a spell her way but she dodged it. "Stand aside from the child!" he commanded angrily.

"Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…" she started to cry as two more robed figures entered. Lily gasped as she recognized both Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape. "No…" she cried.

"Lily," Severus said softly. "He's giving you a choice."

Lily threw a longing look to her husband. "Where was his choice?" she demanded.

"That is not this, Lily. _You_ have a choice. Take it!" Severus begged.

"No."

Voldemort drew back the attention to him. "Girl! The boy!"

Lily lost all defiance under the red eyes. "Not Harry! Not Harry! Please—I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" she cried, holding her baby to her.

"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside now…"

Harry started to cry again as his mother trembled and held him too tight in her fear.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead—"

* * *

"I—I need your help," Severus stuttered. The elderly wizard looked down upon him kindly.

"What is wrong, my dear boy?" he asked. He moved over to the man who was rocking his head in his hands and placed a calm hand on his shoulder. "Severus?"

"I've made a mistake, sir," he said slowly. "I don't want to do this anymore." He rolled up his sleeve to emphasize his point.

"I see…" Albus circled around him. "What would we like to do?"

Severus smiled to himself at '_we'_. Albus was committed to helping him. "I can't go back, sir. I can't."

"You're going to have to. He won't let you leave alive, as you very well know."

Severus hung his head. Then, feeling Albus attempting to gain access into his thoughts, he flooded his memory with the events of a few moments ago at Godric's Hollow. "Sir… There's something else I need to tell you."

Albus tried to cover his gasp as he watched Lily Potter's final words. He nodded gravely for Severus to continue.

"Lily Evans, sir. She's… She's dead. I was there." He brought forth the memories of him trying to convince her to run. "I—I tried to help her, sir! I did… and… he said that he would spare her after we found out who that prophecy had meant. He wanted only the babe. I—sir, I tried."

Overcome by Severus's internal display of grief, Albus gravely nodded his head in acceptance. "And James?" he asked, already knowing his fate.

Severus flinched. "Already dead when I got there, sir," he said truthfully as he brought James Potters lifeless form to mind; so that when Albus searched his mind he saw the dead body—but there was no emotion connected to it. "Please sir, I need your help. This was a mistake."

Albus looked straight at him. "We all make mistakes, boy. Yours just happens to be a bit worse than most." Then he tried to brighten. "But not to worry; we'll find a solution."

Severus looked up suddenly, as if remembering something. "Sir, the baby… he survived."

Albus recoiled. "What?"

"The child the Dark Lord was after. He—he lived. I came here to tell you. Something happened, and the Dark Lord vanished, like smoke. But the baby survived. I can't explain it."

Albus tried to regain his bearings. "I have some work to do then, Severus. I do hope you understand that we must finish our discussion at another time?"

"Of course, sir."

"Very well. You may stay in the castle for now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Severus smiled a smile of thanks on the outside, but smirked on the inside. He had the old man's trust.

* * *

**A/N: Well… I wrote this almost immediately after reading HBP, trying to get a theory our on paper, but it didn't work nearly as well as I would have hoped. And the more I read it the less I like it so I figured I should just put it up and see what you all thought. Originally it was going to cover into Harry's time at Hogwarts as well, but I lost incentive and purpose/plot. Oh well…**

**The theory was that Lily and Snape wrote the book together (I found it odd how Slughorn kept comparing Harry to his mom if it was _just_ Snape's hints, you know?) and that Snape like her. He heard the prophecy, and Voldie was so pleased with him that he agreed to spare Lily because she didn't really matter to him all that much. She refused to die, and then Snape used that emotion to convince Dumbledore to trust her. But this theory was put to ruins in a few places… One, the writing _is _Snapes writing from his OWL's in book five.**

**This did take a while to research though, because I had to find all of Lily's quotes for the death scene. That required going through all six books and digging them out. Not that I'm complaining. I apologize for any errors in it. My parents decided to stop heating the house and the thermostat in my room is reading—at the moment—below 60 degrees. I'd guess 58 or 59. So, my hands are frozen stiff! Grrr….**

**Also, don't ask me if I think Snape is evil. In this he was, but really I think only the seventh book will tell… I have no outstanding theory on that yet. However… I came up with a wonderful theory about Harry being the seventh horcrux, AND I have proof! Because what is a theory without proof? PM (or email) me if you are interested in hearing it. I'm looking for someone to come up with a way that it doesn't work… I want a loophole because otherwise my head may grow to be too big for my body! Augh!**


End file.
